Twelve service nominees are put forward each year by the Conference Director for the Board of Directors’ consideration. Although GM duty is the most common qualifier, it is not the main factor with more consideration given to other behind-the-scenes volunteer tasks and this year’s honoree again is well steeped in such qualifications. The Board votes by secret ballot, weighing their votes according to their own particular values as to what constitutes the greatest contribution, by ranking each nominee from 12 (strongest) to 1 (weakest).

In 2010, the award went to someone on the list for the first time. With a record tying 73 points (out of a possible 96), he polled no lower than 7th place support from the Board while being named in the top three slots by half the BoD. Those of you who frequent Consimworld or Boardgamegeek will recognize him as one of WBC's most vocal supporters—augmenting his praise with entertaining statistical analyses of events to support his tireless proselytizing.

He was one of the original founders of the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con for Card Driven Wargames. A shark in his own right, this competitor currently ranked #24, has few peers among his fellow sharks when it comes to doing more than just competing.

His enthusiasm is infectious and just a tad zany—witness this year's Sandman Salute celebrated beneath a fez cap at the Good Spirits Bar on Thursday night to commemorate those with sixth place WBC sand plaques. We now owe him for the creation of yet another WBC tradition. His support of the Team Tournament with humorous team logos for all comers has kept us amused and whetted our appetites for the upcoming festivities each summer. Above all else, Dave Dockter is just one of those guys who makes you want to come back to WBC each summer to share some vicarious boardgame adventures with a guy you wish you could play every weekend.

Previous WBC Hobby Service Award Recipients

Stuart Tucker
2005

Kathy Stroh
2005

Steve Okonski
2005

Vince Meconi
2005

Mark McLaughlin
2005

Ken Whitesell
2005

Keith Wixson
2006

Bruno Sinigaglio
2007

Debbie Gutermuth
2008

Alan Applebaum
2009

David Dockter
2010

Stuart Tucker (2005): Stuart is a past Board member who has always shouldered at least one GM burden every year; often doubling up to handle an orphaned event as well. Under his direction, Hannibal has prospered in a Pre-Con slot and he is largely responsible for the success of the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con. He may be better known for his role as the Happy Handicapper who posts the odds and commentary for our Team Tournament event. Lastly, he originated the Laurels concept that drives all of the Caesar and other metagaming secondary features of WBC. No wonder he led all the nominees in votes!

Kathy Stroh (2005): Kathy is also a past Board member who could always be counted on to volunteer when a job needed doing. She headed the Juniors program at WBC long before there was a WBC and remains active as a Juniors GM today. Gender issues don’t bother Kathy—she’s a regular at the Enlightenment mini-con and has long competed there as the sole female in attendance.

Steve Okonski (2005): Steve is the guy behind the scenes who gives BPA its public face to the world—working hard to organize our ever growing website. His programming skills have also fathered the Personal Scheduler which is a true boon to WBC veterans plotting out their daily schedules. Many of the photos gracing our website have come from Steve’s camera in the years he’s been able to attend. An ardent rail game buff, he has been active helping to run Rail Baron and Empire Builder and is also a winner of our Sportsmanship Award. Quite a resume.

Vince Meconi (2005): Vince is the epitome of a professional GM. His vibrant War At Sea tournaments just get bigger and better every year despite being long out of print. He was the first GM to publish extensive statistics pertaining to his tournament. His players know that they will be provided plenty of post-event coverage direct from the horse’s mouth every year. Not coincidentally, Vince always ranks highly in the GM of the Year balloting.

Mark McLaughlin (2005): Mark really is the epitome of the enthusiastic volunteer. He’s never had a child attend WBC but every year he runs Princess Ryan’s just for the kids on Saturday morning. And every night he runs Napoleonic Wars for us big kids. Not a tournament kind of guy, Mark is unusual in that he doesn’t play in his event except as needed to round out a table. But that doesn’t stop him from buying a round for the finalists and toasting the emperor.

Ken Whitesell (2005): Ken stands out in a crowd. Even without his hat adorned with his bonafides—badges from every Avaloncon/WBC—the 6’ 5" WBC bouncer doesn’t often sneak up on you. The founder of the Tontine society for veterans of all Avaloncons/WBCs, Ken is responsible for those WBC Legion XV additions to our Badge holders that all the in crowd is wearing. Ken has always taken on the dirty jobs that no one else wants—like acting as security in our non-obtrusive honor system badge police. He also volunteers for whatever event is orphaned in the waning days of the scheduling - foregoing the pleasure of running a favorite game for whatever happens to be needed. The big lug is really a softie at heart.

Keith Wixson (2006): Keith garnered 68 of a possible 96 votes for the honor from a strong field whose dozen scores ranged between 26 and 68. Keith is widely considered one of the best GMs at WBC where he has long been active in the CDW field and is known particularly for his strong support of Wilderness War which he backs with an assortment of unique period weapon replica prizes. His service to gaming in general and BPA in particular is also noted with his strong stewardship of quality PBeM tournaments and as a reliable fixture behind the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con.

Bruno Sinigaglio (2007): Bruno garnered 69 of a possible 96 votes. Bruno is almost single-handedly responsible for the Grognard Pre-con, where he GMs all eight events until the WBC "day" shift arrives to take over later in the week. Even then, his hand is clearly the driving force in completing the paperwork for many of these events. He also runs several BPA email tournaments for the classic hex wargames and is largely responsible for their continued survival at WBC with his GM-intensive flexible format scheduling, which is accomplished at the cost of his own laurel chances. He stepped out of grognard character to Sponsor Queen's Gambit, a perennial favorite at WBC.

Debbie Gutermuth (2008): Debbie gardered a record 73 out of 96 possible votes.Not just another suffering spouse who makes the best of her husband's weekly vacation, Debbie is one of the organization's hardest working volunteers. She starts her week with the CABS crew running the Auction and works deep into the night on the financial payout that makes our Games Auction one of the very best in the hobby. Aside from taking a turn as a GM every year, she also combines her other hobby interest—photography—to take literally thousands of photos annually to document each and every event as the official BPA photographer. Her photos grace the results pages of virtually every event on our website.Winner of her share of events, one wonders how many more plaques she'd earn were she not constantly working the camera all week. Even long after WBC ends, she labors on the editing of those photos to illustrate our web coverage and create A WBC highlight "movie".

Alan Applebaum (2009): Alan was the BPA’s first Chairman of the Board and did yeoman’s work keeping the email meetings humming back when we weren’t so much on automatic pilot and controversy was more commonplace in the fledgling days of the organization. He also supported BPA financially both from his own pocket and with pro bono legal work from his lawfirm which enabled us to get our trademarks. His advice and calming manner during sometimes raucous Board meetings was invaluable and he was often the first to sacrifice his own position in favor of a workable compromise. He never took things personally, got upset, or had to have things his own way. Alan was a consumate professional whose absence from the Board has been dearly missed. However, he remains active in the hobby and those who play in the Victory in the Pacific or War At Sea tournaments benefit from his largesse every year while employing the chess clocks he donated to those events. Alan exacted his last revenge on me by finishing deadlocked at 72 points for the award, rather than winning it outright. Consequently, the tie breaker vote fell to the CD. I’m sure Alan would have enjoyed the irony of my being required to vote and watching Don Greenwood squirm while making the choice between two deserving recipients. Well, the joke is on him. Don chose him. He who laughs last, laughs best.

David Dockter (2010): In 2010, the award went to someone on the list for the first time. With a record tying 73 points (out of a possible 96), he polled no lower than 7th place support from the Board while being named in the top three slots by half the BoD. Those of you who frequent Consimworld or Boardgamegeek will recognize him as one of WBC's most vocal supporters—augmenting his praise with entertaining statistical analyses of events to support his tireless proselytizing. He was one of the original founders of the Winter Activation Meeting mini-con for Card Driven Wargames. A shark in his own right, this competitor currently ranked #24, has few peers among his fellow sharks when it comes to doing more than just competing. His enthusiasm is infectious and just a tad zany—witness this year's Sandman Salute celebrated beneath a fez cap at the Good Spirits Bar on Thursday night to commemorate those with sixth place WBC sand plaques. We now owe him for the creation of yet another WBC tradition. His support of the Team Tournament with humorous team logos for all comers has kept us amused and whetted our appetites for the upcoming festivities each summer. Above all else, Dave Dockter is just one of those guys who makes you want to come back to WBC each summer to share some vicarious boardgame adventures with a guy you wish you could play every weekend.